Working to Live

In exchange, the government covers all health care and
education, and spends more on children and the elderly than any country
in the world per capita. With just 5.5 million people, the system is
efficient, and people feel "tryghed" -- the Danish word for "tucked in"
-- like a snug child.
If one loses his job, the government pays his salary for up to
four years while he trains for another or until he finds another; women
receive up to a year's maternity leave which they can share with their
husband if they choose; education is paid from pre-school through
college.

Those high taxes have another effect. Since a banker can end up
taking home as much money as an artist, people don't chose careers
based on income or status. "They have this thing called 'Jante-lov,'
which essentially says, 'You're no better then anybody else,'" said
Buettner. "A garbage man can live in a middle-class neighborhood and
hold his head high."

Indeed, garbage man Jan Dion says he's an eight out of 10 in
terms of happiness. He said he doesn't mind collecting garbage for a
living, because he works just five hours in the morning and then can
spend the rest of the day at home with family or coaching his
daughter's handball team.
Dion says no one judges his choice of career,
and he actually loves what he does because he has many friends along
his route. It makes him happy when he sees the children who wave to him
and the old ladies who bring him cups of coffee.
Josef Bourbon, a carpenter's apprentice, is also happy with his choice
of career and enjoys the work. "I think it's about building something,
seeing what you've worked on the whole day -- you can see what you've
done," he said. On weekends he likes fish and hunt or play with his new
puppy.

(Getty)

Don't Worry, Be 'Hygge'

Hanging
out with other Danes just may be their happiness secret. Ninety-two
percent of Danes belong to some kind of social club, dancing, singing,
even practicing laughing with other Danes. Get a few people together
who enjoy model train building, for example, and the government will
pay for it. In Denmark, even friendship is subsidized.

And Denmark is what is called a "post consumerist" society.
People have nice things, but shopping and consuming is not a top
priority. Even the advertising is often understated.
Along with less
emphasis on "stuff," and a strong social fabric, Danes also display an
amazing level of trust in each other, and their government. A
University of Cambridge happiness study found that both kinds of trust were higher in happier places.
In Denmark, you can see trust in action all around you. Vegetable
stands run on the honor system, mothers leave babies unattended in
strollers outside cafés, and most bicycles are left unlocked.
And
perhaps the bicycle is the best symbol of Danish happiness. Danes can
all afford cars, but they choose bikes --simple, economical, nonpolluting machines that show no status and help keep people fit.